Can anyone recommend a good book or three about the history of the Roman senatorial families? I’ve tried searching online, but I’m getting nowhere. Maybe my search terms are off-beam, or maybe there are no works quite so focussed. I’d like to follow the great families through the centuries and their antics/great deeds.
I don’t know of any books that cover long periods like that, but Erich Gruen’s Last Generation of the Roman Republic might interest you, and you might find something in his bibliography. You might also check the bibliography form Ronald Syme’s Roman Revolution. They both did a lot of work with prosopography. You might have to look into individual families. Some that come to mind immediately are the Claudii, Cornelii, Fabii, and Metelli.
Hi, there are definitely studies of these families (and gentes) and they must exist in English (I assume), but I can only recall ones written in other languages. I’ve read sections of a book on this topic in Italian called Le grandi famiglie di Roma antica: storia e segreti. There are also studies in Latin, such as this one:
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dFPVXirPSfwC/mode/1up?view=theater
The only one I can think of in English covers papal families (I’ve used this book to trek around Rome in the past) rather than ancient Roman families: The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide, and so not what you’re looking for.
Cheers, Chad
The book that immediately comes to mind is Friedrich Münzer’s Roman aristocratic parties and families. I haven’t read it myself so I can’t attest to its quality or how well it fits what you are looking for, but I know that it is a respected work among classical scholars. If I remember it correctly Münzer is considered one of the fathers of prosopohraphy.
Sincere thanks, folks! I’ll follow up your recommendations. The last looks exactly like what I’m looking for.
I decided to look for a copy of Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families and found a hardcover on Amazon that was in excellent condition for 15 dollars. It just arrived today, and I was thrilled at the condition; it had been listed as ‘good’, but ‘like new’ would have been more accurate. Then, to my even greater surprise and pleasure, I opened it and found that the copy I ordered had belonged to Ernst Badian.